Carstens says IMF race not over yet

Mexico's candidate to lead the IMF said that his battle with France's Christine Lagarde was not over yet after talks in Beijing on Thursday, while chastising Europe for not making it a fair fight.

Agustin Carstens, the governor of Mexico's central bank, is the clear underdog in the race to become the next managing director of the International Monetary Fund, following the resignation of Dominique Strauss-Kahn last month.

His campaign to win support from major emerging nations has faltered in the face of Lagarde's worldwide charm offensive, but he said officials in China, the world's second-largest economy, had 'listened very carefully' to his pitch.

'Regrettably this time around, Europe didn't embrace the spirit of having a merit-based process,' Carstens told reporters after meetings with his Chinese counterpart Zhou Xiaochuan and Finance Minister Xie Xuren.

'That doesn't mean... I'm declaring defeat by any means. That's not the case.'

Europe has maintained a 65-year lock on the top job at the Washington-based lender according to an unwritten agreement, but emerging nations such as China and India have questioned the tradition, calling it outdated.

The race for the IMF leadership began last month after Strauss-Kahn resigned to face sexual assault charges in New York.

Lagarde, France's finance minister, and Carstens were placed on the shortlist earlier this week by the IMF's 24-member board, which is expected to make a decision by June 30 after interviewing the candidates.

Carstens, who served as the IMF's number three from 2003-2006 before returning to Mexico City to become finance minister and then central bank chief, admitted earlier this week that beating Lagarde would be difficult.

'I know that it's an uphill battle,' Carstens told CNBC television.

source:NewAge

IMF seen releasing Greek funds despite EU delay

The IMF will release crucial loans to save Greece from default despite a likely delay by the European Union in agreeing a second bailout for the heavily indebted state, euro zone sources said on Thursday.

The news came as Greek prime minister George Papandreou, beset by mass street protests and resignations from his ruling socialist party, was planning to reshuffle his cabinet and drive through a draconian austerity plan to meet EU/IMF terms.

With financial markets unnerved by a deteriorating political situation in Greece and lack of agreement in the euro area on a new rescue plan, the EU's top economic official said he expected Athens will get the desperately needed next aid tranche in July.

'I am confident that next Sunday, the Eurogroup will be able to decide on the disbursement of the fifth tranche of loans for Greece in early July. And I trust that we will be able to conclude the pending review in agreement with the IMF,' Economic and Monetary Affairs commissioner Olli Rehn said in a statement issued to try to calm markets.

source:NewAge

IBM turns 100

US technology pioneer IBM turns 100 years old on Thursday and while 'Big Blue' is no longer the dominant player in the computer industry it remains a force to be reckoned with.

With a market capitalisation of $197 billion, IBM is the world's 14th most valuable technology company, well behind California gadget-maker Apple's $304 billion but close to software giant Microsoft's $201 billion.

Thomas Misa, a history of science and technology professor at the University of Minnesota, credits IBM's longevity to its 'mastery of getting information processing power into users' hands in a form that they need and want.'

'They did this in the 1930s with punch-card tabulation machines and they are doing the same, essentially, with the post-1993 shift to information services,' Misa said.

While its ancestry stretches back to the 19th century, IBM dates its birth to the June 16, 1911 merger of three firms: the Tabulating Machine Co, the International Time Recording Co and the Computing Scale Co of America.

Thomas Watson Sr, the man credited with building IBM into a powerhouse, joined the new company, Computing-Tabulating-Recording Co in 1914 and renamed it International Business Machines Corp in 1924.

Over the years, rivals have mocked IBM's corporate culture of conformity but that has not stopped the Armonk, New York, company from being at the forefront of technological innovation.

IBM claims to hold more US patents than any other company and five of its employees have won Nobel prizes for physics.

Dag Spicer, senior curator of the Computer History Museum in Mountain View, California, said IBM's success can be traced in part to its readiness to take 'big gambles.'

'During the Depression, Tom Watson kept making machines even though there was no market,' Spicer said.

'In 1935, FDR (president Franklin Delano Roosevelt) passed the Social Security Act. The law passed and IBM was the only company that had the equipment ready to go,' he said.

Thomas Watson Jr, who took over the presidency of IBM in 1952 from his father, embarked on a huge gamble of his own in 1964, Spicer said.

'Tom Watson Jr decided to bet essentially the whole company — $5 billion, probably the equivalent of $100 billion today — on a new computer system, the System/360,' he said. 'It made all of IBM's products obsolete.

'The System/360 was the most successful mainframe computer of all time, sealing the blue letters IBM in the public imagination,' he said.

IBM was unable, however, to emulate its success with mainframe computers with personal computers and the company struggled in the late 1980s and early 1990s.

'Microsoft and Intel were the big winners in the personal computer market, which IBM defined but did not long dominate,' Misa said.

source:NewAge

US launches new drive to attract investment

With the unemployment rate stubbornly above 9 per cent, US commerce secretary Gary Locke on Wednesday unveiled an initiative to encourage both US and foreign companies to create more jobs in the United States.

Building on previous US government efforts to attract foreign investment, the SelectUSA initiative will help US states deal with federal regulations that may discourage an overseas company from investing in the United States or encourage a US firm to look abroad, senior commerce department officials said.

'In recent years, we have been losing ground to our foreign competitors in attracting and retaining business investment and have seen US jobs move overseas,' Locke said.

'By refocusing government resources, SelectUSA can make government work better to strengthen the economy and create new jobs for American workers. Simply put, business investment in the US means jobs for the American people and that is the Obama administration's number one goal.'

Foreign companies poured about $130 billion into the United States in 2009 through mergers and acquisitions or the building of facilities. That represented about 12 per cent of total global foreign direct investment, down from an average of 23.4 per cent in the late 1990s, the commerce department said.

The United States still is the biggest recipient of business investment but other countries have worked to improve their competitive positions and ramped up their marketing and outreach efforts to help attract job-creating business investment, the department said.

President Barack Obama took note of the changed global landscape in an executive order on Wednesday establishing the SelectUSA initiative.

'In an era of global capital mobility, the United States faces increasing competition for retaining and attracting industries of the future and the jobs they create,' Obama said. 'My administration is committed to enhancing the efforts of the United States to win the growing global competition for business investment.'

Business groups welcomed the initiative, which they said could give US employment a much-needed boost.

John Engler, president of the Business Roundtable of top US corporate executives, said SelectUSA 'has the potential to cut through the red tape, break through US investment barriers and clear the path for job creation.'

For example, both major corporations and smaller companies can face costly delays in winning government approval of sites they have selected to build new facilities. SelectUSA will act as 'single point of entry' at the federal level 'to get things done and make sure there are no unreasonable barriers in the way,' a senior commerce department official told reporters.

'We think there's a unique role the federal government can play. Just speeding up the process and making sure that we're not a barrier, that the federal government is not a barrier to job creation and economic growth,' the official said.

The interagency group also will promote the United States as the best market for business operations and launch a new website, www.SelectUSA.gov, to provide comprehensive information on federal programmes and services available to companies that operate in the United States.

source:NewAge

Greek debt, political turmoil hits world stocks

World stocks hit a three-month low on Thursday, the euro tumbled and top-rated government bonds rose as investors began to price in a possibility of disorderly default in Greek sovereign debt.

Eurozone and banking sources told Reuters Germany wants to delay the deadline for a second Greek aid package to September, reflecting disagreement within Europe on how to involve the private sector in a deal without triggering a default.

Political turmoil within Greece is also intensifying fears. Parliamentary resignations threw the Greek prime minister's plan to reshuffle his cabinet and seek support for an austerity package into disarray.

A Spanish auction suggested problems might spread. Weak demand prompted investors to push the country's 10-year yields to an 11-year high. The cost of insuring sovereign debt in Greece, Ireland and Portugal against default hit record highs.

Besides worrying about a potential Greek debt restructuring, and the repercussions for European banks that hold the country's bonds, markets also fear that global economic growth momentum is slowing just as the Federal Reserve prepares to end its $600 billion bond buying programme.

All this is prompting investors to unwind their risky assets going into the thin trading of the summer months.

'There's political turmoil in Greece, and the government doesn't look too stable,' said Lutz Karpowitz, currency strategist at Commerzbank in Frankfurt.

'The risk is increasing that Greece may not get a bailout, and this is putting pressure on the euro.'

The MSCI world equity index fell 1.1 per cent to hit its lowest level since mid-March. The index has wiped out all the gains made this year to fall one per cent since January.

The euro fell as low as $1.4071, a one-month low. It hit a lifetime low against the Swiss franc. The FTSEurofirst 300 index fell 0.8 per cent. US stock futures pointed to a weaker open on Wall Street later.

Emerging stocks were down 1.7 per cent. Chinese stocks hit an 8-1/2 month low as speculation grew about a potential interest rate hike after the yield on three-month bills unexpectedly rose at an auction.

'The Chinese economy has undoubtedly slowed as a result of the monetary tightening ... but .. the trough in leading indicators suggests that the pace of slowdown is moderating,' said Gerard Lane, equity strategist at Shore Capital.

'As a result the underperformance seen in the first quarter of those stocks with a high degree of emerging market exposure should come to an end.'

Bond futures rose 39 ticks. Spanish 10-year yields rose as high as 5.75 per cent, up over 18 bps on the day.

'We've already seen a decent concession going into the (Spanish) auction so they had to concede quite a substantial amount to investors in order to get them to buy,' said WestLB rate strategist Michael Leister.

'As we saw in Greece and the other countries, you can fund yourself and get liquidity but the crucial issue at some point in time becomes the price. Here it seems Spain is clearly heading in the wrong direction.'

The cost of insuring Greek sovereign debt jumped to 1,900 bps, the highest in the world.

The dollar rose a quarter per cent against a basket of major currencies.

US crude oil rose 0.4 per cent to $95.21 a barre

source:NewAge

Euro at three-week low on Greek debt contagion fears

The euro fell to its lowest level in three weeks against the dollar in Asian trade Thursday amid fears over contagion from Greece's deepening debt woes, dealers said.

The single currency plunged Wednesday after eurozone finance ministers failed to bridge their differences over a second debt bailout plan for Athens, against a backdrop of violent anti-government protests.

In Tokyo afternoon

trade, the euro briefly fell to $1.4113, the lowest level

since late May. It then

slightly recovered to change hands at $1.4131, down

from $1.4182 in New York late Wednesday.

The European common currency eased to 114.56 yen from 114.80 yen.

The dollar was at 80.99 yen against 80.92 yen.

Euro sentiment took a hit after ratings agency Moody's warned it may downgrade major French banks Credit Agricole, BNP Paribas and Societe Generale because of their exposure to Greek debt, dealers said.

The announcement

came after European finance ministers failed to agree

on the terms of an eventual

second bailout for Greece

to avert a possible default

after talks in Brussels

late Tuesday.

source:NewAge

Oil prices rebound slightly

World oil prices rebounded slightly on Thursday as traders went bargain-hunting, and after the International Energy Agency upgraded its forecast for global demand, analysts said.

New York's main contract, West Texas Intermediate light sweet crude for July delivery, added 39 cents to $95.20 a barrel.

Brent North Sea crude for August won $1.41 to $114.42 a barrel in London morning deals on the contract's first trading day.

Commodity traders were buying up crude after its overnight dip, said Victor Shum, a Singapore-based analyst at Purvin and Gertz international energy consultancy.

'Traders view this as a buying opportunity after oil prices tumbled,' he told the AFP.

Crude futures had plunged dramatically on Wednesday to below $95 a barrel in New York as investors fretted about fresh signs of weakness in the US economy and tensions in Greece which sent the dollar jumping.

But prices won modest support on Thursday after the IEA raised its global oil demand forecast for 2011 by 0.1 million barrels per day (mbd) to 89.3 mbd.

source:NewAge

market Disclosures

Sampath Bank PLC, one of the corporate sponsors/directors of the company, has reported its intention to sell 5,00,000 shares out of its total holdings of 93,00,000 shares of the company at prevailing market price through the stock exchange within next 30 working days.

Shahjalal Islami Bank

Nasima Akter, one of the sponsors/directors of the bank, has reported her intention to sell 1,00,000 shares out of her total holdings of 65,34,460 shares of the bank at prevailing market price through the stock exchange within next 30 working days.

National Tea

Trading of the shares of the company will be allowed only in the spot market and block/odd lot transactions will also be settled as per spot settlement cycle with cum benefit from June 19 to 21. Trading of the shares of the company will remain suspended on record date on June 22.

RAK Ceramics (Bangladesh)

SAK Ekramuzzaman, one of the sponsors/directors of the company, has reported his intention to sell 10,00,000 shares (bonus shares) out of his total holdings of 1,95,56,350 shares of the company at prevailing market price through the stock exchange within next 30 working days.

Southeast Bank

Yussuf Abdullah Harun, one of the sponsors/directors of the bank, has reported his intention to sell 1,00,000 shares out of his total holdings of 4,35,860 shares of the bank at prevailing market price through the stock exchange within next 30 working days.

Eastern Insurance

The board of directors has recommended 5 per cent cash dividend and 10 per cent stock dividend for the year ended on December 31, 2010. The AGM will be held on July 18 at 10:00 am at Spectra Convention Centre at Gulshan in Dhaka. Record date will be on June 23.

Beacon Pharmaceuticals

Trading of the shares of the company will remain suspended on record date on Sunday for EGM.

Source: DSE

source:NewAge

PM urges tea estate owners to bring back past glory

Prime minister Sheikh Hasina on Thursday urged the owners of the country's tea gardens to introduce modern technologies in their gardens and factories to improve the quality of tea and increase production of the cash crop.

Hasina made the call when a delegation of the Bangladesh Tea Association led by its chairman Md Safwan Chowdhury met her at the Prime Minister's Office on Thursday morning.

Sheikh Hasina said the tea estate owners had to incorporate modern effective technologies for increasing production and improving quality of tea so that after meeting local demand, tea could be exported in large numbers said her press secretary Abul Kalam Azad.

The prime minister reminded the tea garden owners about the past glory of tea industry of Bangladesh when huge volumes of tea used to be exported

'The past glory of the cash crop has to be brought back,' she said.

Listing various measures taken and implemented by the present government for development of tea industries and tea workers, the prime minister said government's assistance to this sector would continue.

In this regard, she mentioned her government's steps for providing ration to the tea

workers.

Land minister Rezaul Karim Hira, and members of parliament Imran Ahmed and Hafiz Ahmed Majumder, were in the delegation, among others.

source:NewAge

3,60,000 Citi accounts hacked in May

Citigroup Inc said a cyber attack in May affected almost twice as many accounts as the bank's figures had initially suggested, as major US lenders come under growing pressure from lawmakers to improve account security.

A total of 3,60,083 North American Citigroup credit card accounts were affected by the breach, the third-largest US bank by assets said in a statement released late on Wednesday.

Of those affected, some 2,17,657 customers were reissued with new cards along with a notification letter, while the remaining accounts were either inactive or had already received new cards earlier, the bank added.

Citigroup had earlier said that about 1 per cent of its North American accounts were affected. The bank's annual report puts the total number of its customers at 21 million.

'It is mainly due to the actual number of accounts being more than what's in the 2010 annual report as well as variances such as some of the accounts being closed,' United States-based Citi spokesman Sean Kevelighan said in an emailed response.

Customers had their names, account numbers and contact information accessed, but Citi said that 'data critical to commit fraud was not compromised' and that other consumer banking online systems were not accessed.

source:NewAge

‘Banks not to charge over 12pc interest on food import loan’

Private commercial banks will not charge more than 12 per cent interest rate on loan for importing food grains.

A delegation of Bangladesh Association of Banks (BAB) conveyed the decision to prime minister Sheikh Hasina while exchanging views with her at the Prime Minister's Office on Thursday.

BAB Chairman Nazrul Islam Majumder led the delegation.

The interest to the depositors will also not be more than 12 per cent, the delegation informed the premier.

During the meeting, the BAB delegation apprised Hasina that banks have no liquidity crisis at present as the country's economy is in good condition, said PM's press secretary Abul Kalam Azad while briefing newsmen.

The prime minister called upon the businessmen and others concerned to take necessary measures to prevent price spiral of essential commodities during the month of Ramadan considering sufferings of the commoners.

Laying emphasis on paying tax in the greater national interest, she said eligible citizens including the prime minister have to pay tax regularly to help supplement the government efforts for building a self-reliant and poverty-free Bangladesh.

source:NewAge

Proposed budget to hinder export, investment growth: DCCI

The Dhaka Chamber of Commerce and Industry on Thursday crticised some proposals in the budget for next fiscal year, including increased tax at source on exportable goods as it would have serious negative impacts on export growth.

'A number of proposals included in the budget would hinder growth in investment, exports and employment generation,' DCCI president Asif Ibrahim said at a post-budget press conference at its office.

Asif Ibrahim demanded withdrawal of the proposal to increase  tax at source from 0.4 per cent to 1.5 per cent on exportable goods as it would have serious negative impacts on export growth.

The DCCI president said it would be compatible if the tax-free income limit could have been fixed at Tk 2.25 lakh instead of the proposed Tk 1.80 lakh because inflation rate and price of essentials increased notably during the year.

Asif demanded withdrawal of imposition of 10 per cent surcharge on total paid tax for people having assets worth Tk 2 crore or more, increasing fee for commercial building registration, increasing tax at source on stock brokerage and 5 per cent tax on income from poultry farms.

He urged the government to keep the textile sector under tax holiday facility proposed for the next two years.

'Some thrust-sectors mentioned in the Industrial Policy were also not proposed to be brought under the tax holiday facilities. These sectors need tax holiday facilities,' said Asif.

The DCCI chief said the proposal to increase tax from 0.05 to 0.10 per cent on brokerage commission might create problems in the capital market because the investors would have to pay the tax ultimately.

Asif recommended that the government should allow undisclosed money to be invested in the capital market with a condition of keeping the invested money for at least two years.

But later, replying to a question, he said the undisclosed money can be invested in the manufacturing sector considering employment generation.

He recommended that the government should withdraw VAT imposed on internet service providers to make the initiative for digitalisation effective.

DCCI vice president Nasir Hossain and former presidents Benazir Ahmed and Khalid Hossain and other directors were present.

source:NewAge

DSE falls for 3rd day

Dhaka stocks continued to fall on Thursday for the third consecutive day as investors remained uncertain about the impacts of the proposed budgetary measures and went for selling off their shares as the budget had no provision for legalising undisclosed money for investment in the capital market.

Market operators said investors on Thursday continued to remain inactive on the trading floor as they were yet to get any clue about how the market would react after the new budgetary measures came into effect.

A number of individual investors also went for selling out their shareholdings driven by a fear that the government would not change its stance not to allow legalisation of undisclosed money for investment in the capital market, leading it to a further fall, they said.

'All these speculations have been affecting the market since the placement of the proposed budget for the next fiscal year in the parliament,' said a stockbroker.

He said, although the investors were optimistic before the budget proposal and started to become active in trading, the post-budget scenario had reversed from that.

In the six trading sessions before placement of the proposed budget in the parliament on June 9 Dhaka stocks had gained 321 points but since then the general index of Dhaka Stock Exchange has lost 231 points in five sessions.

The benchmark general index, or DGEN, of the DSE on Thursday lost 36.64 points or 0.63 per cent to close the day at 5,776.17 points.

Turnover of the bourse on the day, however, climbed by Tk 10 crore from that of Wednesday to Tk 485.61 crore.

Trading on the DSE started upbeat on the day, with the DGEN gaining around 40 points in 15 minutes. But, the gaining trend faded fast as the DGEN had continued to drop for the next 30 minutes, wiping out the opening gain. The index barely managed to make just one or two short-lived upward flights during the entire session and ended the day in red. 

Mahmood Osman Imam, a professor of finance at Dhaka University, said, 'The post-budget trend of the market seemed induced and not reflecting its true picture.'

'If we see the rate of fluctuations of the DSE index and the corresponding turnover, it indicates the market is not normal, because when the index gained the turnover declined,' he pointed out, adding that, 'Some of the fluctuations  might be created deliberately.'

Of the 253 issues traded on Thursday, 111 advanced, 130 declined, and 12 remained unchanged.  

LankaBangla Finance Ltd topped the turnover leaders on the day with Tk 27.97 crore worth shares changing hands. The rest of the top-10 turnover leaders were One Bank Ltd, United Commercial Bank Ltd, City Bank Ltd, United Airways Ltd, Pubali Bank Ltd, AB Bank Ltd, Eastern Bank Ltd, Uttara Bank Ltd, and National Bank Ltd.

source:NewAge